A great number of exciting new digital operating modes have developed, largely because of the availability of personal computers, soundcards, and advanced software. But amateur digital communication began in earnest in the late 1940's (if you don't count Morse as a digital mode!) when hams worked out techniques of connecting mechanical Teletype keyboard/printers to amateur gear using FSK and AFSK modulation. WSJT has become a very popular tool for digital communications. FSK441 mode is in use for meteor scatter contacts and JT65 is popular for terrestrial communications.

Amateur radio (ham) operators utilize EME for two-way communications. EME presents significant challenges to amateur operators interested in working weak signal communications. Currently, EME provides the longest communications path any two stations on Earth can utilize for bi-directional communications.
Amateur operations use VHF, UHF and microwave frequencies. All amateur frequency bands from 50 MHz to 47 GHz have been used successfully, but most EME communications are on the 2 meter, 70-centimeter, or 23-centimeter bands. Common modulation modes utilized by amateurs are continuous wave with Morse Code, digital (JT65) and when the link budgets allow, voice..

The interaction between Earth's magnetic field and Solar particles is a complex and mysterious field of science. The storm events involve high electric currents in the ionosphere and vast amounts electric power affecting to great many things. One of the ways to observe what is happening up there, is to detect the effects of these phenomena to non ionizing long wave electromagnetic radiation - radio waves.

Hams have been putting stations in their cars since the Twenties (1920's that is). Today, there is great satisfaction in facing the challenge of installing a transceiver in our small cars and pick-ups, using somewhat inefficient antennas, and still being able to make contacts with hams thousands of miles away while "tooling" down the highway.

Every year since 1968, during the last weekend in July, the Central States VHF Society hosts an annual technical conference. There are two days of technical presentations, antenna range gain measurements, noise figure measurements, a flea market, and often times a vendor area. It's a great time to learn about weak signal VHF communications and an excellent place to network and catch up with old friends.

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Welcome

The Central States VHF Society, Inc. (CSVHFS) is a not-for-profit organization chartered in the state of Missouri. It was begun in the mid-1960s to foster amateur radio operation on the bands above 50 MHz. Membership currently numbers about 300, principally in the Midwest states. However, it has members in states from the Atlantic Coast to the West Coast as well as Canada and several foreign countries.

The CSVHFS holds a Technical Conference once a year. The goal of the conference is to raise the technical level of amateurs by providing a forum for presenting technical papers relating to VHF, UHF, and Microwave, to provide a focal point for the discussion on operating practices and procedures, on exploration of modes such as EME, MS, FAI, E-skip, etc. and other topics that promote operation on Amateur bands above 50MHz.